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New headquarters for CSI: New Brighton

New Brighton-based Cardiovascular Systems Inc. (CSI) is starting construction on a new corporate headquarters at the New Brighton Exchange, a planned 125,000 square foot building, which should be completed by March 2015.

Located fewer than three miles from CSI’s previous address in New Brighton, the new headquarters would take up 10 acres of the 100-acre New Brighton Exchange, at the northwest corner of where interstate highways 35W and 694 meet, and would have room for manufacturing, training, research and development.

“With the company’s strong revenue gains from the high growth of our peripheral business and recent FDA approval of our technology for a coronary application, we have outgrown our current facilities,” David L. Martin, CSI president and chief executive officer, said in a release.

“We’re fortunate to have found a location that allows us to remain in New Brighton--a community we’ve called home and supported since 2005--while continuing to expand and prosper as an organization,” Martin said.

Ryan Companies will build the new corporate headquarters; CSI will own the building and be its only tenant.

City and State assists

CSI, which currently employs 191 people in Minnesota, is building the headquarters with an eye on growth, and, per New Brighton’s community development director Grant Fernelius, speaking at a June 10 city council meeting, the company plans to grow to around 500 employees.

At that same meeting, New Brighton approved the submission of application paperwork to the State on behalf of CSI for a $750,000 Minnesota Investment Fund (MIF) loan, which is administered through the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).

CSI’s intra-New Brighton move was not a foregone conclusion, Fernelius explained at the meeting.

“It was a real possibility that they could go elsewhere, so the State got involved in providing some incentives to keep CSI in the state,” he said.

Per MIF loan requirements, CSI must create 125 new jobs that pay at least $13 per hour and invest $25 million of its own money into the project.

With the loan of $750,000, Fernelius said the company would indeed be using its own money for most of the construction, with $500,000 of the loan going towards new equipment, with the rest towards building site improvements.

Fernelius said DEED has submitted an initial loan commitment letter and that the city would have to do its due diligence on the loan matter: a financial review and a review of any legal issues the company might have had in the past, such as bankruptcies or tax liens. Other council actions would be required in the coming months to finalize the loan process.

The council was unanimous in its support of moving forward with the loan and its support of CSI’s future in the city.

“It’s important to keep these high level jobs in our community,” council member Mary Berg said, adding that the average yearly take-home pay at CSI was around $75,000.

“This is not just about who’s already here,” council member Gina Bauman added, “This will impact the city and bring more people who make a great wage.”

Cardiovascular Systems Inc. is a publicly-traded company and appears on the NASDAQ stock exchange as CSII.

According to a New Brighton city website, plans to redevelop the area known as the New Brighton Exchange date back to the mid-1980’s; the project is the largest redevelopment effort ever undertaken by the city.